intelirish

thanks guys.. i know it's crazy to feel this way - in my heart i know i'm looking and feeling so much better it's really driving me crazy i can't be happy about it. as you all said one day at a time.

NewMeDebbie - i guess it's not called bandster hell for nothing .. i have similar probe my weight goes up and down and hangs around the same weight then all of a sudden drops.. the goes up and down and hangs around the same. i've never had this trouble with losing before.. it was keeping it off that kicked me in the butt but then i think the difference now is that i am trying hard not to treat this like a diet but me finally having portion control. the will power to say no. to put that second helping back. Keep it up eventually things have to snap into place. .have you tried shaking up the number of cals you eat.. surprisingly i do well after a high cal day. and that lately i find i do a little better when i make sure i drink enough water and that along with exercise i eat enough cals for the day. i feel i'm close to green i can go a while now between meals but it is still very hard for me to stop eating at the right amount if i don't measure and weigh i will finish my plate and i can still pretty much eat anything but i just have to chose not to. we have got this... and with perserviance we will

it just occurred to me that while at the gym i put on socks on while standing on one leg and bringing my foot up to the Sock WTF when did that happen... Normally my gym work out was just putting on socks

i think i work with those folks too.. there is a consent stream of JUNK food we even have a schedule for who is to bring in food for staff.. well they ain't getting doughnuts and chips from me.. not sure what i'll bring them yet.. any suggestions. but as far as what they bring i just make sure to drink a shake before staff and stay away from the junk.. keep up the good work.

wow that sucks and like RJ said go get them...

Well let me be the first to say WAY TO GO.. i can feel the emotions in your words, the joy, the relief and even the laughter. I am so very excited for you. I love reading your posts and advise and am very glad that you are willing to post and share with us all your success and joy. KEEP it up you are an inspiration

Hi there this is all pretty normal.. chances are the swelling is starting to go down from around the band so you had been feeling what the green zone feels like but as that goes it all begins to get lose again and chances are there is nothing actually in your band yet so you aren't actually getting the use of the band. this won't start until you get some fills. and even then it may take many before you get where you need to be. i've had 4 and i'm still up and down on the hunger scale.. keep up the good work you will be just fine

hi there i'm on MFP also same username so easy to find intelirish.. there are a bunch of bandsters on there so you shouldn't have any trouble finding us all.

I'm trying to decide between getting a my next scheduled fill on the 30th or if I should postpone it until after my travels in Jan. I have 2 trips to make in Jan a one day trip to CA which will be an hour flight which I think I'll manage just fine as i will be back home at the end of the day. however i have a second trip date yet to be determined but will be early Jan where I will have to fly to Boston from Phoenix.. it's a 5hr flight at min. right now I'm not in the green zone but feel that i am close. i am hoping my next fill will put me right where i want to be. i am already eating much less but still more than what i should be and really do not want to postpone my fills as my weight loss has slowed to almost nothing.. i'm not gaining but i have lost perhaps 1.5lbs since my last fill a month ago. total loss to that point was great not sure what has changed to result in such a drop in loss. my question is and i know each and every one of us is different so i can't base what my experience would be as it will be entirely personal I had just wondered what others have experience during flights?

you so have a point there.. not getting food on a flight will finally be a none issue for me. I went ahead and had my fill today. I plan on just taking things easy not trying to eat while in the air. bring my Protein shakes so that I can have something filling after I land and will just basically take things easy..

deep breaths it will be ok.. my thoughts are perhaps another small fill will do the trick. if 8 was too tight and 7 ins't doing much perhaps somewhere in between will find that magic place. It is so darn easy to gain the lbs. your not alone this site has great support and advise.. it's been a real struggle for me although it's only been a little over 3mts this weekend even though i don't feel any true restriction has been what i feel as my first success at behaving how i should.

which true results do you go to? and are they sure it's an infection? i go to one in Scottsdale AZ.. my incision site looked infected but it was actually a reaction to the glue they use to close you up with.. I would keep an eye on it and make an appointment as soon as you think it looks good. but like the other poster said try to eat only as if you had restriction you will get there

what size band do you have? i have 7.5 in a 14 cc band and only sometime fill restriction. i'm hopeful i am close to where i need to be as i do sometimes feel my band now.. i get another fill on the 30. i have also found that you have to take things slow and really listen to your body/band. this weekend i really paid attention to my band/body and only ate when i felt through hunger. ate it slowly chewed well and was able to stop at the right portion size this has been a first for me. i'm usually in too much of a rush and will eat to get it over and done with. which i'm realizing has been my biggest issue as it has allowed me to eat more than i should. being pretty new to this my only advise would be to slow down an listen and depending on the number of fills you have had and band size you may still need a few more adjustments to get you where you need to been. keep up the good work.

This is something i like to open and read when ever someone get's me down about my weight we can't control how folks will act or what they'll say most likely the words where not meant to hurt... hugs to you and every one who posted here.. keep up the good work

so far i haven't had to pay anything for a fill as i hit the max out of pocket for the year but that soon comes to an end. i have noticed that the insurance is billed for $600 with a neg rate of $245 which would be my portion as i have the high deductible... the cash payment is $75.. so when i asked them about switching to cash pay i was told they are not supposed to do that WTF... but i could talk to them in Jan and they would see what then can do.. i'm no where near the green zone so many hidden costs associated with WLS

I totally know how you feel i was having one of those throw in the towel moments this mornings and i'm only 3mts banded.. way to early to be giving up.. it's just so hard when you do everything right and the scale just won't budge.. feel free to check in with me also

my dr had said no to soft drinks but that if i must i should drink diet.. as a general rule i just don't drink soda.. but i love love sparkling Water.... as for alcohol - i make my self work for those calories.. i have had one drink on occasion and i plan ahead if i know i'm going to be in a situation that i would like a drink i walk an extra 15/20 mins on the treadmill and make sure some one will drive me home if needed. If i find i'm suddenly in a situation to have a drink i pass. as an earlier poster said you just don't know how they will affect you and getting home safely and sober is a priority also.

I just bought a pair of "because they where on sale" size 18 jeans at Old Navy.. the first pair fit.. no wiggling, no sucking no bending over and doing twists to get the stupid things on. OMG I was SHOCKED I knew I was an 18W but i'd been wearing old jeans and had thought that perhaps they had stretched. I need this to really make me realize I am losing.. I am doing this yes it's slower than I want but I'm Winning this battle.

Why is it when it comes to weight loss you truly see "friends" for who they really are? Why does it suddenly have to be a competition? Here i am about 5 wks post op still struggling to lose weight haven't found that sweet spot probably won’t' until a few more fills. when i get this email from someone i would have considered a friend right up until I hit read…. All I had asked was where she had been for the last few day’s and that I had missed her at lunch as she was blowing me off.. the response I get. Mostly yada yada yada.. oh I lost 10 more lbs last week getting to the gym WITHOUT you. WTF…. Where is the encouragement in that. Where is the support I had hopped for by sharing what is going on in my life. She knows I had WLS.. suddenly she’s I’d never do that to my body… I feel like I just got kicked right to the curb.. i was there for her through her illness, her husbands illness and most recently her daughters to support, care and just be a friend never once judging.. Feeling completely disillusioned it's not the first jab she's made but i guess it will be the last one i allow her to make.

So i just had lunch with the "friend"i started this thread about.... lunch was fun and nice and then half way through she was all.. i can't believe how skinny your getting.. I mean your stomach still sticks out but it's getting there.. WHY oh WHY oh WHY couldn't she just stick with your looking great??? I guess it'll be another month or so before lunch happens again

I've had the same with my fills they have told me that is usually takes 2wks for the body to truly adjust. now that my band is more than half full they will not fill it more often than once a month i now fill the tightness in the morning but by dinner time i'm starving. but to answer your q.. it has taken a few days post fill each time to really feel the change.

Amen to that it's only been a few months for me and i already know it was the best damn decision i ever made. my only regret.. taking so damn long to do it.

most days I can't decided if I'm embarrassed or proud that I had weight loss surgery I have shared with a number of people that I had it.. mostly the females in my life.. and then others I choose to say I just changed the way I live and diet.. I was at a retirement party yesterday where there was food every where but I chose to behave and brought my Protein shake with me and happily sat and talked while I sipped on that. constantly being asked WHAT your not eating? I told so many stories that I've lost track of what I told to whom.. I don't know what came over me I didn't feel that it was the right setting to truly share what I had done with people the party was not about me but then. back at my desk a coworker who knows came to ask advise and to learn about my experience as she is hoping her son who at 21 is over weight is considering having the lapband also. I was flattered that she would ask for my advise and experience. she is hoping to get her son to talk to me also as he is very shy but is intent on losing weight and very interested in the lapband.. I guess what i'm getting at.. why the hell.... should we be embarrassed? YOU ME ALL of us are taking control of our lives and making it better not just for us but for every one in our life's. I mean when people quit smoking the wear their Patches with pride... why should it be different for us food, drugs, smoking alcohol it's all addictive.. so no more lying.. if they ask they will get the truth - if they want to think less of me for it.. so be it how will it affect me? honestly NOT AT ALL I will continue to get healthy and slimmer so what they think really doesn't matter.... be strong no matter your choice the only one that matters is you..

I love and agree with every word mentioned above.. i have not yet found the green zone.. so when i'm feeling down and have let the scale play mind games with me i give my self a pep talk.. everything i've lost so far as been on me. the band is a motivator but not really an enforcer yet.. i'm really trying to work on listening to my body head hunger is a real problem for me i stop at noon to eat not because i'm hungry but because well that's when i always eat.. Yesterday as i was on fluids/mushes from my fill i really paid attention. and really surprised myself the small amount of food i ate really kept me full. hoping this feeling will stay with me now. being on here is so very helpful as it's so good to know there are others that have been through the same thing and have succeeded. hope you find your motivation i'm usually around if you need an ear.